The real unemployment, cont’d

You may recall that the dismal August jobs report reflected a decline in the unemployment rate from 8.3 to 8.1 percent. Funny how that works, however, as Conn Carroll points out: “The U.S. economy actually lost jobs according to the survey the Labor Department uses to calculate the unemployment rate. And not for the first time. The U.S. workforce has declined for each of the last two months as has the number of employed Americans.”

The reported decline in the unemployment rate was attributable to a big drop in the labor force participation rate (the share of Americans with a job or looking for one). Analyze this: “If Obama can get everyone out the the workforce, the unemployment rate will be 0%!”

!s this really the way it’s supposed to work (so to speak)?

UPDATE: Among astute editorials addressing the August jobs are report are those by the Boston Herald and the New York Post, both of which are worth reading.